Video Game Review: Alice: Madness Returns

I don't even know where to start with this--I think this game might be my new obsession. Even so, I'll try my best at giving this an unbiased critique. So, let's head down the rabbit hole and into this twisted re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland. Let the madness begin!

The cover art.

The Story:
Roughly ten years after whole Wonderland incident, Alice is grown up--and so is Wonderland. Driven mad by the death of her family in a fire, she has just returned to society after ten years of staring at a wall in a mental hospital. (The first game in this series, American McGee's Alice, takes place during her time in the asylum.) Just when she seems to be getting the hang of real life, she finds her madness returning, and, she soon discovers, Wonderland is not the cheerful place it used to be--and it's up to her to restore it.

The Gameplay:
A fairly standard mix of platforming and action combat. The combat is fairly straightforward, with the added twist of some basic strategy needing to be employed. Different enemies have different methods of defense and attack, which the player must keep an eye on to defeat them.
Much of the gameplay focuses on collectibles, including bottles, memories, and pig snouts (yeah, you read that right) which are technically optional, but needed to unlock story details, extra content, and weapons upgrades. There are some puzzles, none of which are exceedingly challenging on normal difficulty.

A screenshot from the Hatter's Domain.

How steampunk is it?:
It's pretty damn steampunk. Essentially, the world of gameplay is the mental construction of a delusional Victorian maid--resulting in a surreal blending of Victorian and fantasy elements. Most of the first level takes place in a floating factory constructed almost entirely from gears and teapots, so I was just about puking rainbows most of the way through. Other than that, the aesthetic touches on a lot of steampunk's sub-types and cousins, such as industrial, Gothic, Victoriental, and a twisted, creepy-doll-based form of Lolita.

The Good Stuff:
This game is art. Like, it needs to be in a museum. The scenery ranges from jaw-droppingly beautiful to utterly disturbing. It would take me pages and pages to describe the look of it, so I'll just cram this review with pretty pictures.
My compulsive character-analyzing self simply can't help but be impressed. With the entire game being a symbolic journey into into Alice's subconscious, the whole thing is basically one big character study, and creator American McGee clearly put a good deal of thought into her personality. Mental illness in fiction is usually reserved for psychotic villains, but Alice seems to be the exception--as far as I can tell, much research has been put into her condition(s).  Even so, her personality still holds remarkably true to Lewis Carrol's original character--Alice may have matured a little and developed a rather cynical attitude over the years, but glimpses of the strong-willed and curious character on which she was based still shines through. In fact, I'd say this is a more accurate character interpretation than the more famous Disney version.

Just another butt-kicking day in Wonderland...

The biggest thing, though, is just how badass (do pardon my recent overuse of that word, but it's absolutely necessary here) this game is. I spent a good portion of the game just playing around with the weapons instead of actually progressing. I mean seriously, a flaming hobby horse/war hammer that shakes the very earth when thrown upon the ground? That's the kind of thing that makes my day! Playing this legitimately gave me a massive boost in self-confidence. After taking out a couple dozen mechanical monsters with a single shot from an exploding teapot cannon, one feels capable of doing just about anything.

The Bad Stuff:
Most major game reviewers kept Madness Returns firmly in the average range, and, as much as I loved this game, I can see why it might not appeal to the hardcore gaming crowd. Other than the scenery, remarkably little changes throughout the forty-odd hours of gameplay. Many players have lamented the rather long length, and, as much as I enjoyed it, it was quite an endeavor. It's clear, at least, that the creators were aware of this--a lot of big scenes and even entire subplots were awkwardly compressed or hacked out. While the amount of cut material didn't really detract from the game, I really wish they would release some sort of extended version which would include more story depth and actual boss fights. From what I've been able to track down on the internet, a lot of that cut material looked pretty awesome.
The only flaw that seriously bugged me was the ridiculous number of technical issues. The computer I played this on is only a year or two old, but I still had to turn the graphics to near-minimal settings just to get it to play smoothly. Glitches abound, most of which impede progression in the game, such as platforms not moving when they should or invincible enemies. In order to get past them, one must restart the entire level. I was lucky enough that both glitches I encountered were fairly early on in their respective levels, but less fortunate players could face a good two to three hours of replaying just to get past one spot.

The Verdict:

Victorian London. LOOK AT THAT ATMOSPHERE! O.O SO EPIC!

To begin with, a few things to clear up. Alice: Madness Returns is a horror game--sort of. If you were expecting an Amnesia-esque experience of sheer terror, you might be dissapointed/relieved. Even playing alone in the dark with headphones, I wasn't really scared. If you've never played scary games before, this could serve as your gateway into that realm, as it will likely do for me in the long run. Excluding a few gory moments, the horror of Alice: Madness Returns is mostly quite subtle, more creepy than terrifying. Being the kind of horror that one must think about for a bit to be afraid of, this might be one of the few scary games out there that's likely to be more effective adults than kids.
That being said, this is most certainly not a kid's game, although the big letter M on the box doesn't seem to deter all those twelve-year-olds who insist on announcing their age on the internet. The story, style, and gameplay cater mostly to the older teen emo/goth crowd. I don't want to sound like a prude who insists that kids can't play video games, but really, I think the themes would have fairly little meaning to younger players. The scares of the game are real-life things, like mental illness and the stigmas it carries, child abuse and how easily it goes unnoticed, and, at its core, the strange and often painful process of growing up.
That in itself is what makes Alice: Madness Returns as haunting as it is fun. I could really just write about this game for days on end--it's the kind of thing that sticks in one's head long after it's done. So be prepared for a lot more posts about this series; I don't think I could get it out of my head, even if I wanted to.